WACO, Texas – Baylor basketball released the non-conference portion of its 2016-17 schedule on Thursday, and the 13-game slate features a pair of home games against preseason top-10 ranked teams, along with a return trip to Fort Hood and the fourth-annual SEC/Big 12 Challenge.
Baylor opens the 2016-17 season by hosting Oral Roberts on Nov. 11. The Bears then return to the ESPN College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon with a home game against Oregon on Nov. 15, and the Ducks could end up as the highest-ranked non-conference opponent to ever visit the Ferrell Center. Oregon won 31 games last season and is ranked No. 4 in USAToday’s Early Preseason Top 25. The highest-ranked non-conference opponents in Ferrell Center history were No. 6/4 Arizona in 1997 and No. 6/6 Washington State in 2007.
BU then hosts 2016 NCAA Tournament team Florida Gulf Coast on Nov. 18 in a non-bracketed preliminary game as part of the Battle 4 Atlantis. FGCU gained notoriety when its 2013 “Dunk City” team became the first No. 15 seed to advance to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16.
The Bears will then grab their passports and head to Paradise Islands, Bahamas, for the sixth-annual Battle 4 Atlantis, which runs Nov. 23-25. First-round matchups will be announced at a later date, but all eight teams will play games on three consecutive days. The field consists of Baylor, Louisville, LSU, Michigan State, Old Dominion, St. John’s, VCU and Wichita State.
Baylor returns home for two more games before taking an 11-day break for final exams. The Bears host Sam Houston State on Nov. 30 and Xavier on Dec. 3. The Xavier game is another matchup with potential to be the highest-ranked non-conference opponent in Ferrell Center history, as the Musketeers won 28 games last season and are ranked No. 6 in USAToday’s Early Preseason Top 25.
After final exams, BU will play four games in an eight-day span before beginning Big 12 Conference play on Dec. 28 or 29. The 18-game, double round-robin Big 12 schedule will be released later this summer.
The Bears host Southern on Dec. 14, then return to Fort Hood’s Abrams Gym for a second straight year to face Jackson State on Dec. 17. The BU-JSU matchup will be the first-ever Division I college basketball game played on the world’s largest U.S. military installation. Baylor played Division III Hardin-Simmons on Fort Hood last season.
BU then has a quick turnaround with a return to Waco to host John Brown the next day on Dec. 18, followed by a game against Texas Southern on Dec. 21 that will be the Bears’ final test before beginning the grueling 18-game Big 12 schedule.
Baylor also travels to Oxford, Miss., to face Ole Miss on Jan. 28 as part of the fourth-annual SEC/Big 12 Challenge. BU is 3-0 in the Challenge, with wins vs. Kentucky, at Vanderbilt and at home against Georgia, and the Bears have the Big 12’s best record in conference challenge games at 6-1, dating back to the Big 12/Pac-10 Hardwood Series.
All games will be televised for a fifth consecutive season, but tipoff times and networks designations will be announced at a later date.
Season tickets can be purchased by calling the Baylor Athletics Ticket Office at 254-710-1000. Follow @BaylorMBB on Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and Periscope for updates throughout the year.
Baylor Basketball 2016-17 Non-Conference Schedule
DATE OPPONENT LOCATION TV TIME
November 11 ORAL ROBERTS Waco, Texas TBA TBA
November 15 OREGON Waco, Texas TBA TBA
November 18 FLORIDA GULF COAST1 Waco, Texas TBA TBA
November 23 TBA – Battle 4 Atlantis2 Paradise Island, Bahamas TBA TBA
November 24 TBA – Battle 4 Atlantis2 Paradise Island, Bahamas TBA TBA
November 25 TBA – Battle 4 Atlantis2 Paradise Island, Bahamas TBA TBA
November 30 SAM HOUSTON STATE Waco, Texas TBA TBA
December 3 XAVIER Waco, Texas TBA TBA
December 14 SOUTHERN Waco, Texas TBA TBA
December 17 vs. Jackson State3 Fort Hood, Texas TBA TBA
December 18 JOHN BROWN Waco, Texas TBA TBA
December 21 TEXAS SOUTHERN Waco, Texas TBA TBA
January 28 at Ole Miss4 Oxford, Miss. TBA TBA
1 – Battle 4 Atlantis Campus Site Game; Ferrell Center (Waco, Texas)
2 – Battle 4 Atlantis; Imperial Arena (Paradise Island, Bahamas)
3 – Abrams Gym (Fort Hood, Texas)
4 – SEC/Big 12 Challenge; The Pavilion at Ole Miss (Oxford, Miss.)
All times central, dates and times subject to change
